High potential and gifted education

At Glebe Public School, we are committed to recognising and nurturing high potential and gifted students, ensuring that every learner has the opportunity to thrive at our school. Our classroom practices are designed to support, challenge, and extend students with high potential, enabling them to achieve personal excellence.

We identify students’ learning needs through ongoing assessment and use evidence-informed teaching practices to provide appropriate challenge and extension. This includes offering a range of learning pathways such as enrichment opportunities, targeted extension programs, and, where appropriate, acceleration.

Our supportive classroom environments promote a strong sense of belonging and encourage students to take risks in their learning, think creatively, and collaborate with their peers. To further strengthen this work, our teachers engage in ongoing professional learning to ensure they can effectively meet the diverse needs of all students, including our high potential and gifted learners.

Examples of the opportunities in our classrooms may include:

• Differentiated tasks that adjust pace, complexity and higher-order thinking​.
• Formative assessment to monitor growth and adapt learning​.
• Explicit teaching of critical thinking and problem-solving strategies.
• Opportunities for abstraction, inquiry, and curriculum depth​.
• Tasks that promote choice, authenticity, and critical and creative thinking​ including cross-curricular projects.
• Flexible grouping to support collaborative thinking and presentations
• Opportunities to take on lead roles in physical demonstrations or team strategy​.
• Supportive learning environments that enable exploration and self-assessment.
• Opportunities for leadership within the classroom​.
• Safe learning environments that encourage confidence, risk-taking, and perseverance​.

Glebe Public School recognises that every student is an individual, and we provide flexible, diverse opportunities for students to explore and grow their strengths beyond the classroom. We offer a wide range of whole-school programs designed to support student growth and extend their interests, passions, and capabilities.

We identify and nurture students with high potential through targeted enrichment and extension opportunities, including public speaking and academic competitions. All students, including those who are high potential and gifted, are encouraged to develop leadership skills through involvement in our student representative council, mentoring initiatives and peer coaching programs.

Student talents are celebrated and extended through a wide range of creative and performing arts opportunities, including school musicals, drama groups, visual arts showcases, music ensembles and creative writing programs. Students also have access to a variety of sporting pathways, such as after-school programs, school carnivals (athletics, swimming and cross country), and differentiated physical education programs designed to cater for diverse skills and interests. In addition, all students are encouraged to participate in whole-school inclusion and wellbeing initiatives that support engagement, belonging and positive wellbeing.

Our students participate in a wide range of statewide programs designed to extend and enrich their learning potential. These opportunities provide access to challenging and engaging experiences beyond the classroom and allow students to connect, collaborate and compete with peers from across New South Wales. Through participation in these programs, students are encouraged to develop confidence, resilience, creativity and a strong sense of achievement.

Glebe Public School also accesses a range of statewide and NSW Department of Education initiatives that provide targeted support for high potential and gifted students. These programs support the early identification of student strengths and provide appropriate challenge, extension and enrichment to ensure students are supported to achieve excellence in their areas of ability.

In addition, students are offered opportunities to participate in local, state and national competitions and events, enabling them to further explore and develop their talents across a variety of domains, including academic, creative and physical pursuits. These experiences promote personal growth, leadership, perseverance and a love of learning.

Examples of statewide opportunities include:

• The Premier’s Spelling Bee
• The Premier’s Public Speaking Competition
• Participation in music ensembles, including State Choirs
• Representative School Sport pathways